Scaled BabyLegs to 85 countries; now she helps companies use AI practically
Nicole Donnelly is Founder/CEO of AI Smart Ventures, a consultancy that helps organisations adopt AI to save time, uncover opportunities and scale smarter. She has been running AI workshops since 2015 and applies that long practical experience across client workflows, while keeping discovery calls and survey review firmly human.
Document your workflows, decide where humans, AI and automation belong, then pick one workflow to implement with full team ownership. Ignore flashy new tools and models until your team understands the process and responsibilities.
What’s the quick origin story of your business, and what makes what you do genuinely different from the other options your customers are looking at?
I’ve always been a tech-enabled entrepreneur. When I launched BabyLegs in 2005, I used emerging digital tools to grow it from a home-based startup into a global brand sold in more than 85 countries within 3 years. I began delivering AI workshops in 2015, long before it became mainstream, and quickly saw its potential to transform how businesses operate and grow. I created AI Smart Ventures to help organizations use AI in practical ways, to save time, uncover new opportunities, and scale smarter.
Where does most of your new business come from today, and where do you wish it came from?
Most of my new business comes from word of mouth or people who came to a workshop or talk, in person or virtually. I do wish we had more cold conversions from all of our web traffic. We have cold leads, and conversion is much less than those who know somebody who knows me or who have heard me speak.
What’s one thing you’ve actually handed over to AI in the last year, and one thing you tried it on and went back to doing the human way?
Because we’ve been using AI for so many years, it’s hard to pick just one thing. AI is woven into every workflow and process that we do. There are a few things that we keep human, discovery calls, and reading the pre-workshop surveys. I want to have a feel for who’s in the room and what their specific issues are. Yes I use the information to design my workshop or talk AND I still review every survey answer.
Have you noticed a change in how customers find you or what they already know before they reach out? Is anyone arriving through AI assistants like ChatGPT yet?
We have a lot of traffic from AI searches and what I’m finding about the people who come in now is that they have consumed no less than 7 hours of videos, workshops, email newsletters, or other content that we put out. They feel like they already know me when they reach out.
If you were advising someone in your industry on all of this for the next 12 months, what would you tell them to actually do, and what would you tell them to ignore?
There are 3 areas that AI is touching every business, Generative AI – the AI that you talk to and get answers or other outputs, Operational AI – that’s the AI and automation combinations that work like "magic" in the background, and AI SEO – how your business is found and recommended by AI bots. EVERYBODY needs to be aware of these 3 and how they impact your business. When it comes with where to start, we usually look at where the most pain or opportunity is. Every business leader needs to be thinking AI first, can I give this task or workflow over to AI? Should I? Ignore all of the flashy new tools and models. Hunker down, document your workflows, and see where humans, AI, and automation belong. Then pick one workflow to start implementing – make sure that your entire team is involved and that each person has the appropriate ownership of the process. If one person tries to use an AI bulldozer, there will likely be a lot of resistance and lack of depth and participation. Make it a team effort and watch new rockstars emerge.
Thank you to Nicole Donnelly and the team at AI Smart Ventures for sharing what actually worked with Leaders Perception readers.
Want to share your playbook?
Leaders Perception publishes founder and operator interviews every week. A few questions, about five minutes, no calls. It is free and everyone we accept gets published.